The Wolf Who Loved Me

"Derrick, I can explain!." The words tumble out of my mouth like men escaping a stampede. My hands are sweating, and my heart beats a hundred mbps a minute against my rib cage. I touch my hair nervously - the hair Derrick once said reminded him of autumn leaves. Derrick walks toward me like a wolf hunting its prey. He's tall and slender, with a lean athlete's body and an aura that makes most pack members step back in fear. Those light brown eyes I once found so gentle have turned hard as amber in the morning sunlight streaming through the windows. His hands are closed into fists and his ace is twisted with a rage that makes my stomach turn. "Who is he, Lina?" His quiet voice terrifies me more than any shout could. His Alpha power fills the room like smoke, making it hard to breathe. Being an omega, I feel it pressing against my skin, trying to force me into submission. I look at my bed where a man I don't know is sleeping peacefully, like nothing bad is happening. My chest feels so tight I can barely breathe. The man has dark hair and chiseled cheekbones, he looks nothing like Derrick, nothing like the person I was supposed to marry today. How did everything go so wrong? "I don't know him," I whisper, tears burning my eyes. Even I can hear how false those words sound. I wrap my arms around myself, feeling small and vulnerable in the green flowery dress Derrick bought me last summer. Derrick's fist hits the wall with enough force to c***k it. The sound makes me jump. Without another look at me, he walks out, slamming the door hard enough to shake the walls. The slam of the door makes the walls shake. My thoughts race in circles, trying desperately to remember anything from last night. The harder I try to remember, the more my mind fills with fog. Fear grips my heart like ice. Why can’t I remember anything from last night? In the mirror across the room, I see myself - small and delicate, an omega with olive skin now streaked with tears. Nothing like the strong Luna I was supposed to become. Movement catches my eye - the stranger is awake now. He stands up, looking confused. He's wearing pack clothes, but how did he get them? "Why are you crying?" he asks gently. I wipe my face, surprised to find tears there. "Who are you?" I ask instead of answering. "Who am I? Who are you?" His confusion seems genuine, which only makes everything worse. "I'm the girl whose life you just ruined!" The words tear from my throat, raw with pain. "That's who I am!" When I get to the pack grounds, everyone is busy. Beta wolves are putting up blue and white decorations - our pack colors. They're setting up tents for what should have been my wedding. Young cubs are running around with ribbons, and warrior wolves stand guard at the borders. This was supposed to be my perfect day, when I would finally become more than just a servant omega. The pack house stands tall and proud, made of stone and wood like all the important buildings in wolf territory. Inside the Alpha Hall, I find Derrick sitting in his big chair - everyone calls it 'The Throne' because it looks so powerful and scary. It's carved with wolf symbols and lined with soft fur. And there, standing next to him, is Mira. Mira, with her perfect blonde hair and confident smile. She's a beta wolf - stronger than me, but not as strong as an Alpha. We've been friends since we were cubs, sharing secrets and dreams. She knows how hard my life as an omega has been, always having to serve others, never having any power of my own. "Derrick," I call out. He won't look at me. "It's okay, Lina. We know everything." Mira's voice sounds sweet. She's wearing a blue dress that matches her eyes. I’ve always wondered if Mira never looked bad in anything, or never wore anything she looked remotely bad in. "Oh, thank goodness," I say, relieved. "You can tell him what really happened last night-" "No, Lina," Mira cuts me off. Her eyes shine with something mean, something I've never seen before. "I mean we know about your plan." My stomach drops. "What plan?" "How you never wanted to marry Derrick. How you've been seeing that human in secret." Each word feels like a knife in my heart. "No! That's not true!" I look between them, desperate. "Mira, please! You know that's not true! Derrick, you have to believe me!" Finally, Derrick turns to look at me. His face is cold and hard, like stone. "I don't have to believe anything you say anymore, Lina. I was trying to help you. I picked you! And this is how you thank me? This is how you repay me?!" "I didn't do anything wrong!" Tears run down my face like rivers. My chest hurts so much I can barely speak. "Mira, please! Tell him the truth!" But Mira just smiles a small, cruel smile. "I already told him the truth, Lina. I told him what kind of omega you really are. I told him everything you said" Mira looks to Derrick. “I couldn’t bear to see the Alpha of our pack be deceived by a mere Omega,” she says as though regretful. “I had to put my friendship aside.” “You did the right thing Mira,” Derrick says. Suddenly, everything makes sense. Like pieces of a puzzle falling into place. The missing memories, the strange man, Mira's smile - she planned all of this. My best friend betrayed me. She planned with that man to frame me. Could she have paid him? And I fell for his fake show of concern, the false confusion. How stupid am I? My hands shake as the truth hits me. She wanted this. She wanted to destroy my happiness. "As Alpha of the Red Moon Pack," Derrick's voice booms through the hall, "I exile Lina Matthews from our pack. You have one hour to leave. After that, we will treat you like an enemy." "No, please!" I fall to my knees. The marble floor is cold and hard. "Derrick, I love you! I would never hurt you like this!" Two beta wolves grab my arms. Their fingers dig into my skin as they drag me toward the pack borders. I scream and cry, but no one helps me. No one even looks at me. People I've known my whole life turn their backs like I'm nothing. How can they believe I would do this? my mind screams. How can they throw me away so easily? “Wait!” Mira calls out to them, her posture is sullen, one of an old friend deeply sad about her friend’s departure. Mira lowers into a squat beside me, “You can never, ever, be better than me.” She says, as they drag me away. Later, I sit in my old car on an empty road. My face feels stiff from dried tears. Where my pack bond used to be - that warm, safe feeling in my chest - there's nothing but emptiness now. It feels like someone cut out a piece of my heart. I feel hatred swell in my chest - for Mira, for all my pack members who did not hesitate a moment to discard me like garbage, and for the man who ruined my life. I feel hatred, and worst of all I feel the familiar feeling I never thought I’d feel again- powerlessness.